from: ACTA Sports
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Type of bind: Paperback
EAN num: 9780879463465
ISBN number: 0879463465
Label: ACTA Sports
Manufacturer: ACTA Sports
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 240
Printing Date: 2008-03
Publishing house: ACTA Sports
Sale Popularity Level: 454258
Studio: ACTA Sports
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The folks at The Hardball Times are well-known for their cutting-edge analysis of the season that was, but in 2008 The Hardball Times will become the information clearing house for the season that will be. The Hardball Times Season Preview 2008 provides projections for major league players and teams as well as individual players' careers. The The stable of writers at The Hardball Times offers up unique 3-year projections, commentary on every MLB player, and of course, the key rookies to watch in 2008.
Unique to The Hardball Times Season Preview 2008 is the 'Team in a Box' where all 30 teams are individually analyzed and projected for the upcoming season. Get to know your favorite team and impress your buddies with the depth of your new-found insight, including:
- Strengths and weaknesses
- 2007 in a nutshell
- Tendencies of managers and general managers
- Depth of the minor league systems
- Reasons for optimism
- Most likely outcomes for 2008
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
I bought this book to read a few team summaries, but mostly to read in-depth analysis for particular players to prepare for fantasy drafts. Do not get it for this last reason.
The book is divided by team, which makes finding any particular player a huge task. You can't search by position, only by name, alphabetized by team. Why could they not summarize their predictions by position in smaller font at the end, or at least give overall rankings?
And, what's with these predictions?! They are the most conservative you can find. Most of the best pitchers in MLB are predicted to win about 11 games. Chien-Ming Wang has won 19 games the last two years in a row, but Hardball Times says he will be 11-9!! In fact, the highest win total I could find was of course for Johann Santana, who is predicted to win 15 games. 15 games! Jake Peavy will win 13.
What is even more inexplicable is the summary text often disagrees with the number predictions. For example, Derrek Lee: "look for Lee to improve upon the 22 long balls but not hit more than 30 this season." Their prediction? 21. What? Erik Bedard: "it's abundantly clear that regardless of the uniform, he'll dominate." Their prediction? 12-7 w/172 strikeouts. Good, but not exactly dominant. Jeff Francouer: "this year I'd expect him to be challenging the 30 HR mark". Their prediction? 21 HR's. There are literally dozens of examples like this.
Come on, go out on a limb, make a real prediction rather than an averaging of numbers.
Rated by buyers 
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This is a fun book to get you primed for the season. The folks at The Hardball Times reached out to various internet baseball authors to cover each team in the majors. Those who frequent baseball sites will recognize many of these folks - such as Brian Borawski, Lisa Gray, Bradford Doolittle, Dave Studenmund, Larry Mahnken, Steve Treder and John Brattain - who have contributed to "The Hardball Times Season Preview 2008."
For each team in the majors you get the following:
+ A projection on their 2008 won-loss record.
+ A summary of their 2007 season.
+ General comments on the team's strengths, weaknesses, G.M., Manager, ballpark, minor league system, and a listing of "favorite team blogs."
+ Keys for 2008 in terms of players lost and acquired, reasons to be optimistic and pessimistic, who's due for a better and worse season, and what's left for the team to do.
+ Player statistical projections for 2008.
In addition to all this, you also get an essay from David Gassko on projecting career statistics and an essay from Chris Constancio on rookies to watch for 2008.
I recommend checking out "The Hardball Times Season Preview 2008." Whether you're a fantasy baseball participant looking for some handy draft/auction reference material or just a baseball fan looking to get some interesting insight on your favorite team as well as the rest of the teams in the big leagues, this book lends towards satisfying your needs.
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